Bicycle repair and maintenance for the regular bike rider. No frills here but the basic stuff everybody needs to know that can help you save money and have fun. So from where ever you are on this planet, read on,fix it, get on your bike and ride!

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Thursday, December 25, 2008

Sometimes you look around the house and miss the obvious treasure trove of stuff just lying there or about to be tossed away. Case in point, a simple plastic peanut butter jar and a pair of plastic tie wraps can give you a very usable hard saddle bag.

Clean any plastic jar with a screw-on lid, just make sure it's not too wide. If you hit it with your legs while pedaling it will be very annoying after a few miles.

Use a marker and while centering the jar under your seat, mark two spots on each side of the seat rails. Cut four small holes and pass two plastic tie wraps in there. Use quality tie wraps on your set up, unless you don't really care about losing your new container.

Strap them on the seat rails and fill it with stuff. If you want to make it completely water proof, simply add a dab of silicone over the holes for the tie wraps.

That's it. you're done. I hope some of you will find this post helpful.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

So Santa Claus gave the reindeers their walking papers and got himself a disk brake equipped mountain bike to do his deliveries tonight. Actually that is reader Ian spreading some Christmas spirit in his 'hood and the Elf in the back is his son.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming New Year. I also want to thank all of those like Ian who give me feedback and ask questions, either by email or by commenting on the blog itself. This is a big part of making this blog a living blog and I couldn't do it without you guys. When I hear that the info on this site has helped folks to earn a living, made a single Mom into a hero to her kid or brought together a Father and a son, I feel like a million bucks every time because I know that this effort is actually making a difference somewhere somehow.

A thousand pardons for not being regular with postings, but my life has been busy lately. If you ever want to test your marriage, remodel your kitchen yourself! Yes, we did make it thru fine, minus a few scratches, in the end. For those of you waiting for my book, don't worry. It's all written and I just need to format the thing so it looks better than a simple Word document. I hope to make it available for download within the month.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

For those of us who are stuck indoors during the winter months, a great way to pass the time is to learn a new skill. I've always wanted to make my own headbadges for my bikes and a recent purchase motivated by my model building hobby has provided me with that opportunity. I bought a jewelers saw, grabbed some scrap aluminum sheet I had laying around and I'm having a lot of fun. The end result is then banged on a scrap steerer tube on my big vise to give it the rounded shape and voila! My own custom bicycle headbadge. I use epoxy or clear silicone to attach them to the bike.

I'm also using the time to rebuild part of my bike fleet, but this will only last so long and I figured that it's always good to learn a new skill. Investing in yourself is never a waste. I also bought a set of vintage hand engraving tools at a flea market and I'm trying my hand at it. Mind you I'm not that good at it, but I figure that practice will provide me with better skills at some point.

In these hard economic times, knowledge and tools are always a sound investement. You don't need to buy it if you can make it yourself and scrap material is freely available if you look hard enough. Some of this stuff might already be in your possesion!

About Me

I'm a guy with a passion for bicycles, plastic models and general homebuilt mayhem of all sorts. I wish to share my knowledge with the world and help you out in the process. I live in Canada – the best country in the world for cyclists but don’t just take it from me, book yourself some holidays to Canada and see for yourself!